How to Execute a Gundam Pilot
by dk-joy
Summary: Death fic, shounen ai. Duo has no choice...it's him or the children. (Updated - with pilots' reactions.)


Warnings: Deathfic, hostage situation…sick jerks who like hurting people…also, shounen ai at the end (1x2), so don't read the last part if you don't like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or these characters (except for a few bad guys) even though I wish I owned Duo…mmmmm…a Gundam pilot for me…Anyway…

How to Execute a Gundam Pilot

The owner of the orphanage told the masked men that she had not seen Duo in weeks and did not know where he lived, but they refused to listen. Soon, the men grew agitated and took several of the children as hostages, including Duo's favorite, Alex. Sister Mary Catherine pushed her dark brown bangs out of her face and sighed. She closed her deep green eyes and said quietly, "we don't know where he lives, but I have his phone number. I don't know if that will help, but please don't hurt the children!"

The man who seemed to be the leader laughed and said, "that will do just fine. Call him and tell him that we will kill one child each hour until he shows up. Once we have killed all of the children, we will detonate the bombs we have hidden in several colonies. You better start praying that he lives close by, cause I can think of a few things I could do to you that you wouldn't like at all. The whole 'I'm a virgin and I'm married to God' thing really does it for me!"

Sister Mary Catherine shuddered and nodded, running to the phone to call the former Gundam pilot. Duo picked up the phone on the first ring and she hurriedly told him what was happening. When she mentioned that they had taken the children hostage, he told her he was on his way and hung up. Thirty minutes later, she saw him walk into the orphanage, breathing hard and sweating as if he had run the whole way. His chestnut braid reached his knees and his violet eyes looked tired and defeated. Then Duo looked at all the children held at gun point, many crying and his eyes glowed with a new light and the Sister knew he would do anything necessary to help the children.

The leader of the masked men took Duo to the side and whispered some things to him. Duo just kept shaking his head. The man looked disappointed. Sister Mary Catherine heard the man say something like, "you can refuse all you want, but one of your friends will accept." Duo kept shaking his head and said, "Father Maxwell would never forgive me and my friends aren't stupid enough to let themselves get caught like this. That's the only reason you're asking ME to do this. Stop asking, cause I'll NEVER say yes to something like this."

The man whispered something else and Duo nodded slowly. The man took off his mask and shook out his shoulder-length black hair. His dark blue eyes seemed to pierce Sister Mary Catherine's soul as he said, "get these kids out of here. I don't need them anymore. I'm going to execute a Gundam pilot." The Sister's eyes widened, and she nodded. She tried to lead the children out of the room, but 5 year-old Alex refused to go. He reached toward Duo and said, "up, up," asking in his own way for Duo to pick him up.

Duo looked down at the little boy and the Sister would have sworn he was about to cry if she hadn't known that Duo Maxwell never cries. He picked up the boy and carried him to the rocker in the other room after telling the Sister to take all of the other kids away. She did. And she never saw Duo alive again.

Shortly thereafter...

The leader watched the former Gundam Pilot sit in the chair and rock the kid. If he hadn't seen him in action during the war, he never would have guessed that the guy could even shoot a gun, much less pilot a Gundam.

He smirked as he plunged a syringe into a bottle and filled it completely. If he had filled it a quarter full, it would have killed a normal guy Duo's size, but since this guy was a Gundam pilot, the man wasn't taking any chances.

"Ready?" He asked, not really asking permission, just giving Duo warning of what he was about to do.

Duo nodded and kissed the top of the boy's head. The boy mumbled sleepily and shifted.

The man put his mask back on. He had a kid at home and was kinda starting to feel sorry for the pilot, but he couldn't let that get in the way of his job. He put his mask back on literally and figuratively – the man felt nothing as he plunged the needle into the back of the pilot's neck and emptied the syringe, releasing poison into the pilot's system. All one would have seen if they had seen the man's face was a kind of sick glee at taking another's life.

Duo flinched slightly when the needle entered, fighting his refexes so he wouldn't just turn and kill the guy. He felt the presence of another of the masked men in the room and didn't want to give them an excuse to kill Alex. So he just sat there and waited, hoping it would be quick, but thinking that he didn't deserve a quick death. He'd killed too many and caused too much suffering to be given such mercy.

To his surprise, he felt the drugs pulling him under in a matter of minutes; apparently this was one of those drugs that kill you in your sleep.

"What have I done to deserve this?" He thought to himself as he let himself fall into a dreamless sleep.

He could have sworn he heard Father Maxwell's voice say, "you fought, son. You fought long enough. Sleep now." And he did.

Later...

The masked men filed out after checking to make sure the Gundam pilot was dead. There was no celebration. One man even took his hat off as he passed, but no one really felt that a wrong had been done that day. The men ignored the screams they heard when Sister Mary Catherine found the body.

Wufei's Reaction...

Wufei just couldn't believe it. He never would have thought in a million years that Duo would be the first of them to die. He figured Yuy would off himself or die in a mission or something, not Duo. Sure Duo was reckless and called himself the God of Death, but…he always seemed to love life so much. If those bastards hadn't stooped so low as to threaten the kids, it never would have happened. He wondered how they slept at night, threatening to kill kids like that just to get revenge. Hell, they'd been kids when they'd killed all of those people.

The Preventers had caught the guys who did it. They were a group of men who had lost wives and children during the war. They had all been killed accidentally when Duo destroyed a base. Duo hadn't even known about the tragedy. But the bastards wanted revenge and they got it. And now a good person and a good friend who cared more about others than himself was dead. He had probably blamed himself in the end, the baka.

Trowa's Reaction...

Trowa wasn't surprised when he heard the news. He knew that all of the pilots had fan clubs and hate clubs. It was expected with a war like they'd been in. But he didn't expect or want it to happen to Duo. Out of all of the pilots, Duo was the most caring. Quatre was empathetic, but he hadn't had to deal with any personal losses from war until he was in the war. Duo had known that kind of pain at an early age, like Trowa himself, and so he was able to understand and care deeply for people who suffered similar losses.

He'd volunteered at the orphanage, but was always careful to hide his identity so as not to bring trouble to the children, but one of the men who eventually killed him had seen him during the war. When he recognized him entering the Church one day, he watched and found out that he cared for the children. He was never able to follow Duo home because old habits die hard and Duo was excellent at varying his route home and avoiding tails. In order to get to Duo they threatened the kids and…Duo had no choice. He had to let them kill him.

Quatre's Reaction...

Quatre had had a bad feeling that day. He didn't know what was gonna happen, but he knew he wouldn't like it. When he found out, he cried. What else could he do? Duo hadn't deserved to die. He was too kind, too compassionate, to merit that kind of treatment. Quatre didn't care that it had been "painless." Knowing that you were going to die and not being able to do anything about it must have been torture for the active pilot of Deathscythe.

But then again, Duo probably decided it was justified in the end. He was so caring that even if he hurt someone unintentionally, he suffered for it and wanted to make up for it. He killed a lot of people during the war and laughed about it, but inside he was dying and he hated having to hurt people. Quatre had seen Duo when he let his guard down. He remembered seeing Duo after Heero had self-destructed. He'd been a total wreck, but he'd kept up the façade until they were far away from the battle-ground. Then he broke down. He hadn't cried, because Duo never cried, but…it was the closest he had ever seen Duo come to crying. He must have really loved Heero, even back then. At least as a friend, if not more.

"I wonder how Heero's doing…"

The last letter from Duo to Heero...

Heero,

I'm sorry. Please forgive me for leaving. I…you know I've always loved you. I would have done the same for you, you know. If I could have avoided this I would, but I can't leave these kids to be hurt like I was. Please, please, please forgive me. I don't believe in an afterlife, but now I'm kinda wishing I did. Cause then I'd get to see you again. I guess…this is good-bye for good. Wish you were here. Wish I could say bye in person. Wish I could show you how much I love you, one last time. I never deserved to be loved, but I'm thankful that I was able to be with you. Please be happy and don't…do anything I wouldn't do.

Always, Duo.

Heero's Reaction...

How could he leave me a note like that? How could he just…no. I would have done the same. For him, at the very least. I just…why him? Why not **me**? I don't care what he did during the war. I did the same and worse. I saw the face of the little girl I killed. I suffered for it. I was reprogrammed not to have emotions because of it. He showed me that emotions can help you fight better. He showed me love and kindness and companionship.

What did I give him? Did he know I love him? He might say he did, but did he ever really believe it? I wasn't exactly vocal about it. I didn't even show him very well with actions. I guess he was just really good at reading me. Could he see the love shining through my dull, lifeless eyes? Did he stay with me in the hopes that I would open up more? I never did. And now I can't. What will I do without the braided baka? Can I really…go on. I don't think so.

Don't do anything you wouldn't do, huh? Well you once told me that if I died, you'd follow soon after. Did you expect me not to remember that conversation? You looking up at the stars, talking about how you never really believed in God, despite your priest's clothes. No afterlife. No accountability for what we do in this life. No chance to be reunited with loved ones…

I hope you were wrong. Cause I can't stand the thought of never seeing you again, and if there really is nothing after this, if all there is is just blackness, nothingness…it's better than living, knowing I'll never see you smile again.

I hope you were wrong. Oh, God, do I hope you were wrong, my Duo…my love. BANG

Owari.

Author's Note: Sorry for the bleak ending, but I hope the closure makes people happy. Please tell me what you thought. I really appreciate every review I get.


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